Coinbase and Figment Forge $18B Institutional Staking Alliance via Prime Integration: A New Era for Crypto Asset Management
Introduction: A Landmark Partnership Reshapes Institutional Staking
In a significant move that consolidates the infrastructure for institutional crypto participation, Coinbase Prime and Figment have announced a major expansion of their strategic partnership. This integration, unveiled on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, leverages Figment's institutional staking platform—which boasts over $18 billion in assets under stake—with Coinbase Prime's comprehensive suite of brokerage services. The alliance, which began with the successful launch of Ethereum staking in early 2024, is now poised to extend its support beyond Ethereum to a broader array of Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain networks. This development arrives at a pivotal moment, as the financial industry anticipates a new wave of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that incorporate staking rewards, signaling a maturation of crypto-based financial products for traditional investors.
The Foundation: Revisiting the Initial Ethereum Staking Success
The expanded alliance between Coinbase and Figment is not their first collaboration. The foundational work for this partnership was laid in early 2024 with the launch of a dedicated Ethereum (ETH) staking service via Coinbase Prime.
This initial foray proved highly successful, with staked assets growing to surpass $2 billion. This growth trajectory demonstrated a clear institutional demand for secure and integrated staking solutions. The model was straightforward: institutions using Coinbase Prime for custody and trading could seamlessly activate staking for their Ethereum holdings, utilizing Figment's specialized staking infrastructure without the operational complexity of managing validators themselves. This success established a proven track record and a working framework, providing the confidence needed to expand the partnership's scope significantly.
Deepening the Integration: What the Expanded Partnership Entails
The latest announcement formalizes an expanded strategic integration. The core of this enhanced partnership involves Figment tapping directly into Coinbase Prime’s robust infrastructure, which provides institutions with a unified platform for trading, financing, and—crucially—secure custody.
Lewis Han, Head of Staking Sales at Coinbase, highlighted the strategic rationale in a statement: “Expanding our staking integration gives institutions more flexibility to select high-quality staking providers like Figment while safeguarding assets with Coinbase Prime’s institutional‑grade controls and secure custody.” This means institutional clients can now choose Figment as their preferred staking service provider while their assets remain protected within the Coinbase Prime custody environment. This eliminates a significant barrier for institutions: the perceived security risk of moving assets off a trusted custodian to access yield-generating activities.
Beyond Ethereum: The Broader Proof-of-Stake Ecosystem in Focus
A central pillar of this expanded alliance is the planned move beyond Ethereum. While Ethereum remains the largest PoS network by staked value, the partnership is now setting its sights on the wider ecosystem.
The announcement specifically directs attention to other leading PoS networks, including Solana, Sui, Aptos, Avalanche, Cardano, and NEAR. This diversification is a strategic response to the growing institutional interest in alternative layer-1 blockchains, each with its own unique value proposition and investor base. By preparing to support these networks, Coinbase and Figment are positioning themselves to capture institutional flows across the entire PoS landscape, not just a single asset. This move anticipates a future where institutional portfolios are as diversified in crypto as they are in traditional asset classes.
Synergy and Strategy: Why Coinbase and Figment Are Ideal Partners
The partnership is a classic case of strategic synergy, where both entities bring complementary strengths to the table.
Figment's Role: Figment operates as a pure-play, institutional-grade staking infrastructure platform. Its entire focus is on security, compliance, and risk-adjusted performance for validators. Lorien Gabel, co-founder and CEO of Figment, emphasized this focus: “From the start, Figment has focused on security and risk-adjusted performance, building infrastructure for the world’s most trusted financial institutions. Our relationship with Coinbase Prime has been integral here, and we look forward to bringing more companies onchain together.” Figment provides the specialized expertise and reliable uptime required for large-scale staking operations.
Coinbase Prime's Role: Coinbase Prime acts as the all-in-one gateway for institutions. It provides the foundational layers of secure custody, liquidity for trading, and financing services. By integrating Figment's staking capabilities, Coinbase Prime enhances its value proposition without having to build a competing staking service from the ground up. It allows clients to access best-in-class staking while keeping all other activities—holding, trading, borrowing—within a single, regulated ecosystem.
The ETF Catalyst: Riding the Wave of Staking-Enabled Financial Products
The timing of this partnership is inextricably linked to developments in the regulated financial product space. The collaboration is occurring as the market welcomes a new generation of spot crypto ETFs that include staking components.
The companies have already jointly backed Grayscale’s plans for the first Ethereum exchange-traded product with staking in the United States. Furthermore, the recent approval of products like the Bitwise Solana ETF with staking has created a tangible need for the very infrastructure this partnership provides. Asset managers issuing these ETFs require secure, reliable, and compliant staking partners to generate the yields promised to their investors. The combined offering of Coinbase’s custody and Figment’s staking operations presents a turnkey solution for this emerging asset management niche.
A Shared Vision: Paving the Way for Institutional Adoption
The overarching theme of this alliance is the continued onboarding of traditional finance into the digital asset space. By combining forces, Coinbase and Figment are addressing two of the most significant hurdles for institutional adoption: security concerns and operational complexity.
The integration allows institutions to participate in blockchain consensus mechanisms and earn rewards through staking—a core feature of the PoS model—without sacrificing the security standards or operational workflows they are accustomed to in traditional finance. This partnership effectively demystifies and de-risks a complex on-chain activity, making it accessible to pension funds, endowments, and hedge funds that have previously remained on the sidelines.
Conclusion: Solidifying the Infrastructure for Crypto's Next Growth Phase
The expanded integration between Coinbase Prime and Figment represents more than just a partnership; it is a significant hardening of the foundational infrastructure required for large-scale institutional capital allocation to crypto assets. By merging top-tier custody with specialized staking expertise and extending it across multiple blockchain networks, this alliance provides a robust answer to the growing demand for sophisticated crypto asset management services.
For market participants and observers, this development underscores a key trend: the convergence of prime brokerage services and decentralized finance primitives like staking. As the market evolves, watch for how this model is adopted and whether other prime service providers pursue similar deep integrations with specialized DeFi infrastructure firms. The success of upcoming staking-enabled ETFs will be a direct test of this infrastructure's readiness. Ultimately, partnerships like this one between Coinbase and Figment are critical building blocks, paving a secure and efficient path for the next wave of institutional capital entering the digital economy.